A group of political advisors have called for protection of the legitimate interests of employees in foreign-funded companies in China amid growing collective labor disputes in recent years.

The increasing labor disputes were mainly caused by the malpractice of employers, says a survey report, written by a research group of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top advisory body of China.

According to the report, irregular employment practices, low wages, unreasonable workload, failure to keep in line with social security programs and lack of work safety measures are major causes of the rising collective labor disputes.

The report, based on a survey of labor relations in Guangdong and Fujian provinces conducted by the foreign affairs committee of the CPPCC, says labor dispute arbitration organizations in Guangdong handled 17,000 cases involving foreign-funded businesses in 2005, up 69 percent over the previous year.

The CPPCC members urge the promulgation of a labor contract law and relevant laws as early as possible and the establishment of a mechanism to coordinate labor relations.

"We need to implement labor contract, labor relations early warning and quick response, and wage payment supervision and guarantee systems in all workplaces," says the report.

The CPPCC members also called for measures to strengthen supervision over malpractices and give play to the role of labor unions in coordinating labor relations.

Foreign investors have established more than 570,000 businesses in China, employing 25 million people by the end of 2005. More than 480 companies on the list of Fortune Global 500 have made investment in China.

Source: Xinhua